


Californian Love

by ValentinesChild



Series: Julian and Emma [4]
Category: Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Prom, Shadowhunters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7776715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValentinesChild/pseuds/ValentinesChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Emma's birthday in one week. Julian needs a present to give her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Californian Love

**Author's Note:**

> Birthday/Prom themes because honestly, Australian formals don't excite me as much as a prom. Plus it was my birthday a while ago. Mostly Julians perspective.

Julian paced up and down the living room of the Institute. Emma’s birthday loomed closer every day. He had only a week left. Even though Emma never spoke of it, he knew he had to do something important for her 18th birthday. Christina entering the room relieved Julian. Another girl, who knew Emma, probably talked about what she wanted. It was worth a shot.

“Christina. I need your help.”

“Sure Julian, what do you need help with.” She was cheerful and polite in her response.

“As you know, it’s Emma’s birthday next week, and I want to do something really extravagant for her 18th,” Julian got on his knees, “Please, please, please help me,” he begged her.

“I’m not going to tell you what she wants, since she never said, but I know every Shadowhunter girl wants to go to prom. A girl wants what she can’t have, since we don’t get proms, I’d stage a prom for her.”

“You’re a genius. If I didn’t already have my eyes set, I’d say I love you.”

“You’re welcome!” Christina yelled, but Julian had already run off to find a note pad for writing down a list of items he would need to pull off the best birthday gift he would ever give his parabatai, his one true, forbidden love.

 

_Emma’s Birthday_

_1 Tuxedo_

_1 Divine Dress_

_Corsage_

_Small lights_

_Music_

 

Julian wrote down the small list of things he would need to make Emma’s birthday one she would never forget. He had exactly one week to pull all of this, so he got set off to work straight away.

 

7 DAYS TILL

 

That night, Julian crept into Emma’s bedroom, not unlike either of them to stay the night in each others beds. He opened picked up a shirt Emma had thrown on the ground from the other day, he read the label, noting the size 10 written on on side, and the washing instructions on the other. He wasn’t sure that it would be right being a shirt, so he continued to look for a dress. The only one he could find was the one she had worn to their parabatai ceremony some years ago, so he stuck with the idea of size 10, slipped into her bed and fell soundly asleep.

 

6 DAYS TILL

 

Julian woke to the crashing waves from Emma’s open window, she was undressing by the corner near her dresser, unaware of his sneaky stare. He took in her entire body, then pretended to wake up as she moved towards the door to leave. 

“Good-morning Jules, I didn’t hear you come in last night, was something wrong?” 

“Just nightmares. It was alright once I was here. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You can tell me about it on the 5k run. I’ll meet you down stairs in 10?”

“Yeah, sure.” Julian hesitated, he didn’t have a nightmare, what was he going to say. ‘Quick’, he thought, ‘make something up’.

 

“Ready?” Emma was cheerful for once. Julian was still a bit drowsy, but a 5 kilometre run was sure to wake him up quickly.

“What was your nightmare about?” Emma panted as she spoke, still running at a decent speed.  
“Just the children, the Dark War, you know. The normal things.”

“I’m sorry I was asleep. I know it’s easier to talk about them while they're fresh in your mind.”  
“Don’t worry about it.” Julian half smiled. The two stopped at about 2 and half kilometres away from the institute, dropped their towels and clothes on the beach and waded into the crystal blue water.

 

5 DAYS TILL

 

Downtown L.A was busy, filled with people buzzing in and out of shops, talking on the phone, reading newspapers and magazines waiting for the bus or sipping a coffee. Julian had come to find a suit and a dress, his mind working on how to hide them for the next few days. He walked into a formal dress shop, picking out the perfect tuxedo for himself in Emma’s favourite colour, blue. The deep blue shirt brought out the green in his eyes. The long sleek dress he picked out, in a size 10, just as he remembered, looked as if it would fit his parabatai perfectly. He took both garments to the counter and handed over his hard earned money to the cashier. 

“Have a good day.” the cashier trilled, although forcefully. 

“You too, thanks for the help.”

“No problem honey.” Being called honey made Julian uncomfortable, but shrugged it off, putting the boxed garments in the back of the Toyota, and heading towards the Institute, texting Christina letting him know he’d need to get Emma out of the way for just a few moments while he went back inside.

 

4 DAYS TILL

 

Mid-day. It was humid, looked like it would rain later. Julian was in the attic, searching for small lights he knew were around from the one time the children had been obsessed with the idea of Christmas. Tapping off footsteps came closer and closer to the attic, finally climbing the stairs. Emma opened the door, standing in a sports bra, three quarter pants and her running shoes. 

“What are you looking for?” Her face was quizzical, her stance forward as if she wanted to help.

“Just having a look, a cleanup maybe next week. I’m just not sure on what I would do with it.” 

“Do you mind if I look too. Might find some stuff we forgot about.” Emma’s laugh was soft and beautiful to Julians ears. 

“Yeah sure.” A nervous laugh left his mouth. 

 

The two sat quietly, occasionally sharing pieces they had found. Julian made note that Emma had found the lights he had already spent an hour looking for. _Mental note,_ he thought, _box labeled ‘stuff 2010’._ He became more relaxed as time went on. The sun continued down. The sky lit up with oranges and purples. He hoped the weather would be good in a few days time, the beauty that happened in the sky that day, replicated on the sky for Emma’s birthday.

 

3 DAYS TILL

 

The institute had flowers that lined the old fences. None of them could match the idea Julian had in mind. Blues, greens. The colours of the ocean. Despite the ocean being one of Emma’s fears, she loved the colours, especially when Julian painted them. She had told him that the time he sat for hours on the beach, trying to paint the waves, continually moving, changing his strokes with the tide. 

 

The flower shop was blooming with colour. He picked a few large blue roses, combined with smaller bell shaped white flowers. Although they weren’t real, they smelt delightful, probably perfume added to the petals. The lady at the counter arranged them in a way Julian never would have thought of and handed them to him, glued on to a white ribbon. 

“Would you like it in a box?” 

“Oh yes, that would be nice, thank you.” She handed him the corsage in a box with a see-through top. Each flower in its perfect place.   
“That’ll be $30.” Julian handed over the money. He thanked her for her service and left the shop. 

 

The wind had brought clouds, dark ones. Julian became more worried about the weather and location for Emma’s birthday. Maybe he would have to have it inside. The thought left his mind quickly. She would love whatever he had planed for her. They were parabatai, he knew her, and she knew him. Hopefully not enough to guess what he planned.

 

2 DAYS TILL

 

Only another day and a half to Emma’s birthday. Julian had woken up late, corsage in his desk draw, locked with a key. He made lunch for the children, each a different type of ham sandwich, Tavvy with chicken. Liv had mustard, Ty had lettuce and tomato sauce, Dru liked butter and ham on wholegrain bread. Julian made small mental notes of songs he thought would be appropriate. His mind wandered over the artists. Something classic like Frank Sinatra, or maybe Christina Perri or Sia that was more modern. The music played inside his head. Each song over and over. Maybe he should just ask Christina. 

 

Julian caught Christina’s arm as she was leaving the dining room. 

“I need your help again.” 

“What now?” She sighed. 

“I’ll be quick, what music should I use?” Julian purposely made himself look more desperate than he actually was.

“Whatever you think she’d like. Something that’s nice to dance to though. You’re a man of taste, you’ll be fine.” Julian sighed. He knew he was over-reacting to the situation. That didn’t mean he was any less nervous. 

 

He picked out a few songs he though were appropriate for the occasion. Something that showed he cared about his parabatai. His one and only.

 

1 DAY TILL

 

Emma sighed in her room alone. Her birthday was tomorrow. Another year. Christina would be leaving soon, Jules and her would be full Shadowhunter’s, allowed to work on proper missions together. As Parabatai to the public, as lovers to themselves. She hoped that he had something planned. It had been so long since she had felt peace in her life. She stood up from her bed, tying her hair into a pony tail and heading towards the beach for her daily run. 

 

~

 

Julian knocked on Christina’s door. It was about 3pm. She opened the door, hair in a fluff, she obviously hadn’t prepared for guests.

“Jules. What do you need from me now?”

“I need you to get Emma into the dress and do her hair and makeup, without letting her see it until she gets to the garden out the back where I’m preparing everything. The weather seems to look fine on the charts.”

“Okay. But you owe me one. Big time.” Julian dropped to his knees, hands clasped together.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” 

“Okay get up. Tomorrow’s yours and Emma’s day. Clean up good Julian Blackthorn.”

 

DAY OF

 

Christina curled Emma’s hair and pulled it into a flattering ponytail, that looked so much better curled than straight. She added small flowers to her ponytail, brushed on some makeup lightly, complimentary bold red lip. The dress was the perfect size, Christina wondered how Julian knew Emma’s size, shrugging it off as their closeness over the years and the fact they were parabatai. 

Emma had been wondering what Christina was doing to her, the sun was low in the sky when Emma got peeks from the blindfold that covered her eyes, enough so she couldn't see, but not tight enough to ruin her eye makeup.

 

~

 

She walked down the stairs of the institute less than gracefully, Christina holding her hand, Emma still blindfolded. Julian smiled as he took her hand from Christina. 

“Have fun you two.” Christina retreated back upstairs, keeping the children out of mischief with Mark. It was the moment he had been waiting for. He removed Emma’s blindfold, and for the first time, she was allowed to see the beautiful gown that Julian had picked out. 

“Wow, what’s all this?” 

“Since we don’t get proms, I thought I’d make you one for your birthday.” From behind his back, Julian pulled the box with the corsage inside it.

“Allow me.” Every word that came out of his mouth so far had been seductive and perfectly executed, despite Emma feeling his anxiety. He placed the corsage around her wrist, took her hand and guided her to the garden.

 

The lights were spread over the garden. 

“That’s what you were looking for in the attic,” she huffed, “the past week makes more sense now.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really have a nightmare, I needed to know your size for the dress.” 

“Julian, this is perfect.”

“Wait, there’s more.” He pulled a small remote from the pocket of his tuxedo. The music played as he took her hand and her waist, guiding her into a dance. She rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying every moment as the sun set behind them. The sky in purples and oranges in the clouds that accompanied the sounds of the waves.

“Happy Birthday my sweet Emma,” Julian said, “I love you.”


End file.
